Multiple compartiment refrigerator



Dec. 5, 1967 E. c. SIMMONS MULTIPLE COMPARTMENT REFRIGERATOR 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March ll, 1956 yi zz De- 5, 1967 E. c SIMMONS3,355,907

MULTIPLE COMPARTMENT REFRIGEBATOR Filed March ll, 1966 2 SheetS-Sheet 2IN VENTOR. Simmons lf, w

fda/ara C United States Patent O 3,355,907 MULTIPLE COMPARTMENTREFRIGERATOR Edward C. Simmons, Dayton, Ohio, assignor to General MotorsCorporation, Detroit, Mich., a corporation of Delaware Filed Mar. 11,1966, Ser. No. 533,605 Claims. (Cl. 62-229) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSUREIn the preferred form, a single fan draws air `from large and smallabove freezing compartments through one evaporator section and alsodraws air directly from the insulated below freezing compartment. Partof the mingled air is returned directly to the two above freezingcompartments while the remainder is returned through another section ofthe evaporator to the below freezing compartment. The below freezingcompartment and the small above freezing compartments are located sideby side below the large above freezing compartment and above theevaporator compartment.

This invention pertains to multiple compartment refrigerators in whichno frost collects in the storage compartment.

When a single evaporating means is used to cool different storagecompartments at low and high temperatures it is often difficult anduneconomical to operate the evaporating means at a sufliciently lowtemperature to attain and maintain the desired low temperature in thelow temperature storage compartment by conventional arrangements.

It is an object of this invention to provide a single evaporator coolingarrangement for low and high temperature storage compartments which willkeep cooled the low temperature storage compartment at the desired lowtemperature without the accumulation of :frost while the singleevaporator is maintained at a relative high temperature.

It is another object of this invention to provide a cooling and aircirculating arrangement for low and high temperature storagecompartments in which the air circulated from and to the high storagecompartment flows through circulating passages only once in heattransfer with a single evaporator while the air for the low temperaturestorage compartment is passed a second time in heat transfer with thesecond evaporator for a second cooling prior to being returned to thelow temperature storage compartment.

These and other objects are attained in the form shown in the drawingsin which the interior of the cabinet is divided into a bottom evaporatorcompartment containing a single evaporator and partitioned into twosubcompartments with small low and high temperature storage compartmentsabove the evaporator compartment and the large high temperature storagecompartment above the two smaller storage compartments.

The front of one of the subcompartments of the evaporator compartmenthas inlet openings at the front communicating with both of the hightemperature storage compartments. The rear of this subcompartment has anopening communicating with the inlet of a lcentrifugal fan mounted uponthe rear wall. The air ybetween these openings passes through onesection of the single evaporator to be cooled sufciently for delivery bythe fan through a duct extending up the rear wall of the cabinetsubstantially to the top of the large storage compartment into which itdischarges. This duct also has a discharge slot discharging into thesmaller high temperature storage compartment. The fan is provided with asecond outlet 3,355,907 Patented Dec. 5, 1967 duct which discharges intothe rear of the other subcompartment. This other subcompartment also hasa front outlet opening and passage discharging into the low tem4perature storage compartment. The second section of the singleevaporator is located between the inlet and outlet of this lattersubcompartment for providing a second cooling of air before it isdischarged into the front ofthe loW temperature storage compartment. Thefan has a second inlet duct communicating with the rear of the lowtemperature storage compartment. The low temperature storage compartmentis insulated from the remaining compartments and is provided with aninsulated doo-r.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparentfrom the following description, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings `wherein` preferred embodiments of the present invention areclearly shown. i

inthe drawings: t i i FIGURE l is a front view of a refrigerator withthe door open and illustrating one form of my invention;

FIGURE 2 is a diagrammatic view of the refrigerating system showingdiagrammatically the evaporatorcompart-` ment and partitioning thereof;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged horizontal sectional View taken along the line3--3 of FIGURE l; f FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary vertical sectional viewtaken along the line `4 4 of FIGURE 3; and FIGURE 5 is a fragmentaryvertical sectionalview taken along the line 55 of FIGURE 3. i i iReferring now more particularly to FIGURE l, there is illustrated arefrigerator cabinet 20 having insulated bottom wall 22 beneath whichthere is provided a machinery compartment 24 which may contain thesealed motor compressor unit 26. The cabinet also hasinsulated sidewalls 28 and 30, an insulated rear wall 32, an insulated top wall 34,and a large insulated `outer door 36. As illustrated in FIGURES 2, 4,and 5, the evaporator compartment extends over the larger portionof the`bottom wall Z2 and is closed at the top by a plastic wall 38 and at thefront by a grill 40 and at the rear by the rear wall\32. The evaporatorcompartment is divided into the subcompartments 42 and 44 by theinsulated partition wall 46 eX- tending from the grille 40 at the frontto the rear wall; and between the walls 22 and 38. Above a horizontalwall` 38 there is provided a center vertical insulated partition wall 48and a second horizontal insulated wall 50I which encloses a hightemperature storage compartment 52 `on the left side and an insulatedlow temperature .storage compartment 54 having additional insulated top,bottom,` rear and side walls. The compartment 52 is provided with anuninsulated inner door 56 which is not provided with a seal, while thelow temperature storage compartment is provided with an insulated innerdoor 58 havinga gasket seal 60. These doors are locatedside by side andmatch each other in appearance as shown in FIGURE l.` The large hightemperature storage compartment 62eX- tends above the wall 50 to the topwall 34 and is provided with three horizontal shelves 64. Thiscompartment also extends between the outer door 36 and the inner doors56 and 58 to the grille 40 beneath the doors 56 and 58.

According to my invention I provide an air circulating system in whichthe grille 40 at the `front communicates` only with the front of theleft evaporator subcompartment` 42. Air is drawn from the compartment 52around the edges of the door 56 as indicated by the arrows in FIGe URE 4and in addition, air is drawn downwardly from the compartment 62 betweenthe outer door 36 and the` front of the inner doors 56 and 58 throughthe left portion of the grille 40 at the front of the left evaporatorsub compartment 42. A single refrigerant evaporator 66 having verticalns extending between the horizontal walls 38 and 22 and from the rear tothe front within `both evaporator subcompartments 42 and 44, is providedfor cooling all of the air. However, the air entering from thecompartments 52 and 62 through the open portion of the grille 40 onlypasses through the portion of the evaporating means 66 on the left sideof the partition wall 46 since the vertical wall 93 behind the grille4t) at the front of the right evaporator subcompartment 44 prevents flowto the right subcompartment. This air, after passing through thisportion of the evaporator 66, leaves the left evaporator subcompartmentthrough the outlet opening 68 -communicating with the bottom of the faninlet shroud 70 of the centrifugal fan 72 which is partially imbedded inthe rear wall 32 and driven by a small electric motor 74.

The fan housing 76 has an upwardly extending discharge outlet 7 8communicating with the upwardly extending duct 89 upon the front of therear wall 32. This duct has a small discharge slot 82 discharging alimited amount of air directly into the small high temperature storagecompartment 52 which may contain a removable container 84. This duct 80also extends substantially to the top of the compartment 62 and isprovided with a discharge outlet opening 86 discharging air into theupper portion of the compartment 62.

The fan housing 76 is also provided with a second dis- -charge outletand duct 88 extending within the rear wall 32 to an opening 90 at therear of the right evaporator subcompartment 44. This air iiows forwardlyon the right of the partition 46 through the right section of theevaporator 66 within the right evaporator subcompartment 44 foradditional cooling to bring this air to a sufficiently low ternperatureto maintain the compartment 54 at a desired low temperature such as F.However, since this air has Ibeen previously cooled by its flow throughthe evaporator subcompartment 42 before it enters the fan housing 76,only limited additional cooling needed to bring it down to 0 F. isrequired to be performed by the right section of the evaporator 66. Forthis reason, the evaporating means 66 can operate at a temperature justslightly below the ternperature desired to be maintained within thecompartment 54. Therefore, the difference in temperature between thetemperature of the compartment 54 and the temperature of the evaporatormeans 66 need not be as great as in conventional cooling arrangements.This air, after flowing forwardly through the compartment 34 and theright section of the evaporator 66 to the vertical wall 93 passesupwardly through an opening 92 and passage 94 into the bottom front ofthe compartment 54. This air after flowing through the compartment 54 tofreeze any liquid and to maintain frozen any food stored therein, leavesthe compartment 54 through the opening 96 communicating with the secondinlet duct 98 which joins the inlet shroud '70 at the inlet of the fan72.

The sealed motor compressor unit 26 withdraws evaporated refrigerantfrom the single evaporator 66 and discharges the compressed refrigerantinto a condenser 121 which may be located within the machinerycompartment 24 or upon the outside of the rear wall 32. The refrigerantliquifed in the condenser 121 is forwarded through the capillaryrestrictor supply conduit 123 to the inlet of the single evaporator 66.The operation of the sealed motor -compressor unit 26 is controlled byan adjustable thermostatic bulb 127 located in the discharge outlet S6.The switch 125 will therefore maintain proper refrigerating temperatureswithin the compartments 62 and 52 in accordance with the adjustment ofthe switch 125 by the adjusting knob 129. The below freezing temperatureof the compartment 54 is assured by the additional cooling provided bythe second pass of the circulating air through the compartment 44 andthe right section of the evaporator 66 which cools the air sufficientlyto maintain low temperatures in the Compartment 54, l

While the embodiments of the present invention as herein disclosed,constitute preferred forms, it is to be understood that other formsmight be adopted.

What is claimed is as follows:

1. A refrigerator including insulating means enclosing and separating anupper above freezing compartment and a lower below freezing compartmentto be cooled and having a rear wall, a refrigerant evaporating means,first duct means extending from said upper compartment into heattransfer with said evaporating means, fan means having an inletconnected to said duct means for drawing air from said first compartmentinto heat transfer relation with said evaporating means, second ductmeans connecting the outlet of said fan means with said uppercompartment for delivering cold air to said rst compartment, wherein theimprovement comprises third duct means extending within said rear wallfrom said lower compartment without passing in heat transfer with saidevaporating means directly to the inlet of said fan means, and fourthduct means having a portion extending through said rear wall from theoutlet of said fan means and in heat transfer with said evaporatingmeans and to said lower compartment to reduce the temperature of the airdelivered to said lower compartment below the temperature of the airdelivered to the upper compartment, said first and fourth duct meanscomprising an evaporating chamber beneath said compartments containingsaid evaporating means and a dividing wall separating said chamber intoportions of said first and fourth duct means, said evaporating meansextending on opposite sides of said dividing wall.

2. A refrigerator as defined in claim 1 in which the evaporating meansincludes a unitary structure containing refrigerant passages extendingsubstantially in a single horizontal plane having one portion in heattransfer relation with the first duct means and a second portion in heattransfer relation with the fourth duct means.

3. A refrigerator as defined in claim 1 in which the insulating meansalso includes a third compartment, said second duct means extending fromthe outlet of said fan means to said first compartment being alsoprovided with discharge means for discharging cold air into said thirdcompartment, said third compartment being provided with means forcommunicating with the first compartment.

4. A refrigerator as defined in claim 1 in which the insulating meansalso inc-ludes a third compartment, said second duct means extendingfrom the outlet of said fan means to said first compartment being alsoprovided with discharge means for discharging cold air into said thirdcompartment, said third compartment being provided with means forcommunicating with the first compartment, said third compartment beinglocated at the side of said lower compartment.

5. A refrigerator as `defined in claim 1 in which a liquefying means isprovided for supplying liquid refrigerant to and for withdrawingevaporated refrigerant from the evaporating means, and thermostaticcontrol means having a therrnosensitive element located adjacent theoutlet of said second duct means for controlling said liquefying means.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,050,956 8/1962 Mann 62-4193,116,615 1/1964 Harle 62-419 3,164,970 1/1965 Hubacker 62--4193,212,285 10/1965 Wilson 62-419 3,243,972 4/1966 Wiese 62-419 WILLIAM J.WYE, Primary Examiner.

1. A REFRIGERATOR INCLUDING INSULATING MEANS ENCLOSING AND SEPARATING AN UPPER ABOVE FREEZING COMPARTMENT AND A LOWER BELOW FREEZING COMPARTMENT TO BE COOLED AND HAVING A REAR WALL, A REFRIGERANT EVAPORATING MEANS, FIRST DUCT MEANS EXTENDING FROM SAID UPPER COMPARTMENT INTO HEAT TRANSFER WITH SAID EVAPORATING MEANS, FAN MEANS HAVING AN INLET CONNECTED TO SAID DUCT MEANS FOR DRAWING AIR FROM SAID FIRST COMPARTMENT INTO HEAT TRANSFER RELATION WITH SAID EVAPORATING MEANS, SECOND DUCT MEANS CONNECTING THE OUTLET OF SAID FAN MEANS WITH SAID UPPER COMPARTMENT FOR DELIVERING COLD AIR TO SAID FIRST COMPARTMENT, WHEREIN THE IMPROVEMENT COMPRISES THIRD DUCT MEANS EXTENDING WITHIN SAID REAR WALL FROM SAID LOWER COMPARTMENT WITHOUT PASSING IN HEAT TRANSFER WITH SAID EVAPORATING MEANS DIRECTLY TO THE INLET OF SAID FAN MEANS, AND FOURTH DUCT MEANS HAVING A PORTION EXTENDING THROUGH SAID REAR WALL FROM THE OUTLET OF SAID FAN MEANS AND IN HEAT TRANSFER WITH SAID EVAPORATING MEANS AND TO SAID LOWER COMPARTMENT TO REDUCE THE TEMPARATURE OF THE AIR DELIVERED TO SAID LOWER COMPARTMENT BELOW THE TEMPERATURE OF THE AIR DELIVERED TO THE UPPER COMPARTMENT, SAID FIRST AND FOURTH DUCT MEANS COMPRISING AN EVAPORATING CHAMBER BENEATH SAID COMPARTMENTS CONTAINING SAID EVAPORATING MEANS AND A DIVIDING WALL SEPARATING SAID CHAMBER INTO PORTIONS OF SAID FIRST AND FOURTH DUCT MEANS, SAID EVAPORATING MEANS EXTENDING ON OPPOSITE SIDES OF SAID DIVIDING WALL.
 5. A REFRIGERATOR AS DEFINED IN CLAIM 1 IN WHICH IN LIQUEFYING MEANS IS PROVIDED FOR SUPPLYING LIQUID REFRIGERANT TO AND FOR WITHDRAWING EVAPORATED REFRIGERANT FROM THE EVAPORATING MEANS, AND THERMOSTATIC CONTROL MEANS HAVING A THERMOSENSITIVE ELEMENT LOCATED ADJACENT THE OUTLET OF SAID SECOND DUCT MEANS FOR CONTROLLING SAID LIQUEFYING MEANS. 